Permuting switch



Jan. 19, 1960 c. J. cRvELlNG PERMUTING SWITCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 29, 195s MQW CYRUS J. CREVELING ATTORNEYII Jan. 19, 1960 c, J, CREVELlNG 2,921,997

PERMUTING SWITCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 29, 1958 INVENTOR CR EV ELI N G CYRUS BY MMM# ATTORNEYS Jan. 19, 1969 C, J. CREVELING 2,921,997

PERMUTING SWITCH Filed Aug. 29, 1958 s sheets-sheet s 7l 72 73 74 75 76 INVENTOR CYRUS J. CREVELING PERMUTING SWITCH Cyrus J. Creveling, Washington, D.C.

Application August 29, 1958, Serial No. 758,166

7 Claims. (Cl. 20D-43) (Granted under Title 35, U.S. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention pertains to permuting switches and more particularly to permuting switches which includes slides for setting the switch elements.

There has long een a need in the art for a permuting switch which is capable of handling complicated permutations in the setting of the switching elements, yet would be small in size, easy to construct and easy to repair.

The permuting switch of this invention provides the long sought for need of being capable of handling complicated permutations in a smal space. My permutation switch is easily constructed and remarkably easy to repair. Further, a provision is made whereby the setting of the switching elements is obscured from view so that the setting of the switching elements cannot be duplicated, nor can an attempt be made to view such setting without destroying all of the preselected settings. Simplification has further been supplied by including diodes in the circuits thereof.

An object of this invention is to provide a permuting switch which includes a radix changer.

Another object of this invention is to provide a permuting switch wherein the dimensions thereof have been greatly reduced in magnitude.

Still another object is to provide a permuting switch in which the setting of the switching elements can be concealed.

Another object is to provide a pcrmuting switch which is capable of providing chargeable operation of devices and appliances such as television receivers, clothes washing machines, and the like.

A further object is to provide a permuting switch which is easily constructed and which can be very easily repaired.

nited States Patent A final object is to provide a permuting switch which Y can accommodate complicated permutations.

These and other features of the invention, as well as additional objects therefor, will become more apparent by reference to the ensuing description and the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows an exploded view of a typical key structure which can be used to select the setting of the switching elements in the permuting switch of this invention.

Fig. 2 shows `an exploded view of the permuting switch of this invention.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the assembled switch along the line 3 3 in layer 23 of Fig. 2 showing the details of the switching elements in the assembled switch.

Fig. 4 is an illustration of the assembled permuting switch, including the front plate.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of typical circuit which can be used in the permuting switch of this invention.

The permuting switch of this invention relies upon the following principles. A key is provided which has pins protruding therefrom to two dilferent planes which are 2,921,991 Patented Jan. 19, 1960 parallel to the plane of the base of the key through which the pins protrude. The key is placed over the permuting switch with the pins aligned withy openings in the switch. In each opening, from the top, the retaining means, a movable conductive element, a movable insulative element, and a spring loaded support which tends to maintain the two last said elements against the retaining means. In the inoperative position, or the condition afforded by the pins which protrude the least distance from the key, the movable conductive element is positioned in a iixed section of the switch wall, and the insulative element is positioned in a sliding element at one limit of movement thereof, and the spring loaded support is in a xed block portion of the switch. In the operative position, or the condition afforded by the pins which protrude into the openings of the switch, the movable conductive element is positioned in the sliding element, and the insulative element is positioned in the block portion of the switch with the spring loaded support therebelow. Movement of the slide results in the positioning of all of the insulative elements and conductive elements, which are located in the sliding element, into a space wherein each of the said elements come into intimate Contact with two contacts of a circuit. The conductive elements assure the completing of the electrical circuits and the insulative elements maintain the circuits in open condition. By the incorporation of unidirectional conductive elements for each input circuit, the number of output circuits is substantially reduced.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, there is shown in Fig. l, which illustrates a preferred embodiment, the key for the permuting switch of this invention. The four layers 11, 12, 13 and 14 are made of any material which is suitably rigid, such as plastic materials, wood, metal, for example. The top layer 11 is for covering purposes and may beeliminated without impairing the operativeness of the key. Provided -in layer 11 are holes 17 which are aligned with holes 17 in the other layers of the key structure so that pins 15 can be fitted therewithin. The securing means 16 hold the several layers in assembled relationship. In the bottom of `layer 12 are recesses 18 in which the enlarged portions of pins 15 are stored. By resting on the surface surrounding holes 17 in layer 13, the enlarged portions of pins 15 prevent pins 15 from extending beyond the lower surface of block 14. This renders inoperative such pins for which the enlarged portion thereof is secured within the recesses 18 in layer 12 and above the upper surface of layer 13. Layer 12 is a storage layer and layer 13 is a divider to secure inoperative pins above its upper surface and secure operative pins below its lower surface as shown in Fig. 1. The pins 15 which are shown in block 14 are positioned so that the enlarged portions thereof are located in recesses in block 14. The lower surface of layer 13 secures the pins 15 from upward movement since the holes 17 are large enough for the smaller diameter of the pins 15 but not large enough to allow the enlarged portions of pins 15 to pass therethrough. When the enlarged portions of pins 15 are positioned in the recesses of block 14, pins 15 are in position to set switch elements 1i) which are in corresponding positions in the permuting switch as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. When the enlargements of pins 15 are secured in layer 12, switch elements 10 in holes 28 of the switch structure of Figs. 2 and 3 are not set. The pins 15 are supplied in the same number as there are holes 17 in which they are to be secured. This provides for checking the correctness of the selection of which of the pins 15 are to be positioned at each of the two available levels in the' key. This redundance of having pins to ll holes not used assures double checking of the setting of pins which are to be used to set a preselected code into the key.

Fig. 2 shows a preferred embodiment of the switch in exploded View. The layers 21, 22, 23, 24,V 2 5 vand 2.6 are madeV of any material which isV suitably rigid and has the property of being electrically insulative, such as plastic materials, wood or the like.V The top plate 21Vhas securing means. 27 terminating therein and holes 28 therethrough into which pins 15 extend when the key is used to set the switch elements. Flange 33 is provided as a means formounting the front plate 63 of the switchV as shown in Fig. 4. The right end of top plate 21 is cut away to show the details of the top or cover slide 22. Inorder that the structure of layer 22 can slide, a cut out section 31 is provided around the fastening means 27. In order to separate the surrounding layers to avoid bindingr layer 22 so as to interfere with the sliding action thereof, collets 29 surround fastening meansy 27 Opening 31 is so dimensioned as to enable the slide to travel the necessary distance to perform its function of covering theholes 28 so that the pattern of setting of the switch elementsV cannot be observed. Proper interlocking means between slides 22 and 24, not shown, can be provided whereby the disturbance ofv slide 22 would cancel all settings of the switching elements. Flanges 32 and 34 are provided to further assure the limits of movement of the slide 22 since such flanges will engage the edges of front plate 63 at the end of travel in either of two directions.

Plate 23 is shown with continuations of holes 28 and securing means 27 therethrough. In addition, conductive cylinders are shown in -holes 28 which correspond to the holes 17 of the key into which pins 15 have their venlargements positioned above plate 13 so as to render such pins inoperative. The cylinders 19 are made of conductive material, such as brass, copper or the-like, and are of s'uch size that they lit snugly within holes 28 while being freely movable within such holes 28. On' the lower side of plate 23 are bus bars 61 which are connected in pairs by connectors 53 and 51 respectively, and are connected through leads 54 and 52 to contacts 55 and 56 respectively. Contacts 55 Vand 56 are on flanges 33 so as to make electrical contact with connectors 66 and 67, respectively, on the front plate 63 of the switch structure as shown in Fig. 4.

Slidingl plate 24, hereinafterreferred to as the lower slide 24, includes holes 28 and openings for collets 29 surrounding securing means 27 exactly like thecover slide 22 discussed above. Detents 35 and 36V are provided to, limit the extent of movement of the slide 24 in the same manner las detents 32 and 34 for cover slide 22. Switching elements 10 and V30 are selectively positioned in the holes 28 in the lower slide 24 in response to the selection of the positioning of the pins 15 in the key. The positioning of the pins 15 in the key determines whether conductive cylinder Iltis to be depressed into hole 28 to the level of the lower slide 24 or to be left in the'xed layer V23, as shown in Fig. 3. If the conductive cylinder 10 is not lowered by a pin 15, insulative cylinder 30, of plastic material, wood, or any other suitable insulative material, obviously remains within lower slide 24.V Movement of slide 24 to'the left as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 results in the movement of insulative block 30 to be in position 86 between contact 20 and bus bar 61 and such current path 'remains open. However, should a pin 15 be so positioned in the key as to cause cylinders 10 and 30 to be lowered, conductive block 10 willY occupy the part of hole 28 which is included within Vthe lower slide 24; Thenmovement to the left of slide 24 asfshown'in Figs. 2 and; 3 would result in conductive block 10 being moved into position 86 betweenl contact 20 and bus bar 61 to complete a current path through the switch. The` cap 40 ier-supported by spring 85 which assures that the cylinders 1 0 and. 30 are always at the upper limit of their travel,

such limit being determined by the particular setting of the switch.

With the key removed, the movement of slide 24 to the extreme right limit will result in the opening of every one of the current paths in the switch, since cylinders 10 and 30 will again be stacked and spring 85 will force the cylinders to the upward limit of movement which is defined by the edges of the reduced size of hole 2S in top slide 22 and cover plate 21.

In block 25 as` shown in Fig. 2, caps 40 are associated with inoperative pins 15 in the key and cylinders 30 are shown to be positioned in response to operative pins 15 in the key.

Bottom plate 26 is provided with contacts 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45 which are connected in pairs through conductors 62 to contacts 46, 47, 48 and 49, on the front edge of bottom plate 26. The contacts 46, 47, 48 and 49 are connected to leads 64, 65, 68 and 69 on the front plate, 63 as shown in Fig. 4. Leads 64, 65, 68 and 69 terminate in contacts 71 through 7 6 on the bottom of the front plate 63 which are available to be inserted into a suitable receptacle on the device of appliance which is to be controlled by the switch of this invention.

It is noted that Fig. 3. is a sectional view of the assembled switch which has been cut in the manner indicated by the dotted line 3-3 on layer 23 in Fig. 2.

In layer 24 of Fig. 3, space 86 is shown to illustrate the position Vof the hole 28 in which either conductive cylinder 10 or insulative cylinder 30 reside when the switch is set, that is, when the slide 24 is moved to the left. Spring 83 holds in intimate contact with any cylinder that separates such contact 2t? from contact 61. Electrically conductive surface 82 is connected to the upper portion of electrically conductive socket 81 and to springf83 whereby electrical conduction is assured between socket 81 and cap 20. Into socket 8l. is inserted contact 84 of diode 50. The other contact of diode 50 is connected to conductor 62 on the bottom of the bottom plate 26 by any suitable means, such as by solder. Defectve diodes 50 can be readily replacedby merely unsoldering one lead and withdrawing theA diode from the socket.

Fig. 4shows the assembled switch of the present invention. Slides 22 and 24 are provided between top plate 21 and block 25 with layer 23 therebetween. Layer 23 and bottom plate 26 have anges on the front thereof which extend into notches provided in front plate 63 to lock the several layers and front plate together. It is noted that the holes 28 and securing means 27 have not been illustrated on the top of cover plate 21 for the sake of simplifying Fig. 4, but it is toV be understood that top plate 21 in Fig. 4 has all of the structure included in the showing of plate 21 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the circuit used in the permutingswitch of this invention. It is seen that the output is connected. to junctions 73 and 74, as shown in Fig. 4, through connectors 66 and 67 to junctions 55 and 56 on layer 23. The bus bars 61 are connected to junction 55 and 56 and are available at the tops of openings 86 to be contacted by the several conductive cylinders 10. When a cylinder 10 is in position to a bus bar 61, the current path is completed through cap 20, spring 83, joint 82, plug 81, s tem 84, and diode 50 to lead 62 on the bottom of the bottom layer l26. The unidirectional elements 50 are provided in the circuit to reduce the number of outputs so that at least two inputs can be coupled together to produce a rst output without shorting out the input circuit. The unidirectional elements may be rectiers, diode vacuum tubes, silicon diodes or the like. The circuit of the switch as shown in Fig. 5 provides for permuting and for radix changingV as well. This unique circuit is more fully described in my application Serial No. 771,167 iiled October 30, i958, and will not be further discussed here. It is included for illustrative purposes only and is not specifically claimed in the instant application.

In summary, I have provided a simple and ecient permuting switch which, in response to the predetermined available length of a key pin, has elements in a slide which will either complete an electrical circuit through the switch or will leave the electrical circuit open. The switch is easily constructed, readily repairable, readily adaptable to printed circuit techniques, and capable of handling complicated permutations of the setting of the switch elements.

Various modifications are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as hereinafter defined by the appended claims, as only a preferred embodiment thereof has been disclosed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a switch, first, second and third layer means, aperture means aligned through said rst, second and third layer means, said aperture means providing a smaller aperture in said tirst layer means than in the other layer means, switch means of conductive material, a loading means for said switch means, said switch means and said loading means being larger than the aperture in said tirst layer means and smaller `than the aperture in said second and third layer means, said switch means being of such dimensions as to be conlined Within the aperture means in said second layer means, iirst contact means on the surface of said irst layer means which is adjacent one of the surfaces of said second layer means and second contact means on the surface of said third layer means which is adjacent a second one of the surfaces of said second layer means, said second layer means being slidable to position the aperture means therethrough between said rst and second contact means.

2. In a switch, i'lrst, second, third, fourth and fth layer means, aperture means aligned through said iirst, second, third, and fourth layer means, said aperture means providing a smaller aperture in said first layer means than in the other layer means, rst switch means of conductive material, second switch means of insulative material and a loading means for said rst and second switch means, said iirst and second switch means being of like dimensions, said conductive means, insulative means, and loading means positioned in said other layer means, first contact means on one surface of said second layer means which is adjacent one of the surfaces of said third layer means, and second contact means on the surface of said iith layer means which is adjacent a second one of the surfaces of said second layer means, said second layer means being slidable to position a preselected one of said switch means to be in contact with said first and second contact means.

3. in a switch, a body means, a slide means, a cover means, means for securing said cover means above said body means and for limiting the movement of said slide means therebetween, aperture means extending through said cover means and said slide means and terminating Within said body means, said aperture means being axially aligned and providing a smaller opening in said cover means than in said slide and body means, loading means secured to said body means within said aperture means at said termination thereof, a laterally and vertically displaceable conductive member adaptable to move in one direction as a unit with said slide and independently moveable toward said loading means in said aperture means, rst terminal means positioned on said body means, second terminal means positioned on said cover means, said rst and second terminal means being positioned so as to be in contact with said conductive member when said conductive member is moved in said direction as a unit with said slide means.

4. The switch structure of claim 3 including a like plurality of said aperture means, said conductive members and said insulative members, said rst terminal means being a plurality of bus bars, said second terminal means being a plurality of spring loaded contacts, a bottom plate, a side plate, a plurality of input terminals on said side plate, a plurality of secondary terminals on said bottom plate, one of said input terminals connected to one of said secondary terminals, a plurality of output leads, a plurality of output terminals on said side plate, one of said output leads connected to one of said bus bars and to one of said output terminals.

5. lIn a switch structure, `a body means, iirst slide means, a divider means, second slide means, a cover means, means for securing said divider means and said cover means above said body means with said tirst slide means between said cover means and said divider means and said second slide means between said divider means and said body means, said means for securing further providing limitation of the movement of said first and second slide means, aperture means extending through said cover means, said first slide means, said divider means, said second slide means, and terminating within said body means, said aperture means being axially aligned and providing a smaller opening in said cover means and in said first slide means than in said divider means, said second slide means, and said body means, loading means secured to said body means within said aperture means at said termination thereof, a vertically displaceable conductive member positioned in said aperture means within said divider means adaptable to be positioned in said aperture means within said second slide means and adaptable to move in one direction as a unit with said second slide, a laterally and vertically displaceable insulative member adaptable to move in one direction as a unit with said second slide and independently moveable toward said loading means in said aperture means, first terminal means positioned on said divider means, second terminal means positioned on said body means, said iirst and second terminal means being positioned so as to be in contact with a preselected one of said displaceable members when such member is moved in said direction as a unit with said second slide means.

6. The switch structure of claim 5 including a like plurality of said aperture means, said conductive members and said insulative membersLsaid iirst terminal means being a plurality of bus bars, said second terminal means being a plurality of spring loaded contacts, a bottom plate, a side plate, a plurality of input terminals on said side plate, a plurality of secondary terminals on said bottom plate, one of said input terminals connected to one of said secondary terminals, a plurality of output leads, a plurality of output lterminals on said side plate, one of said output leads connected to one of said bus bars and to one of said output terminals.

7. A key for a permuting switch including Iirst, second, and third layer means, each having a planar top surface and a planar bottom surface, securing means to provide said layer means with stacked relationship, all of said surfaces being parallel to each other in said stacked condition, switch setting means being elongated and having an enlarged portion near one end thereof, a plurality of aperture means each being axially aligned extending through said three layer means, recess means in the top surface of said first layer means and in the bottom of said third layer means wherein the enlarged portions of said pins are selectively positioned whereby selected ones of said pins are stored and the remainder of the pins extend to an effective extent below said bottom of said third layer.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,775,924 Aikman Sept. 16, 1930 2,561,752 Perdijon July 24, 1951 2,575,052 Foltzer Nov. 13, 1951 2,648,729 Noregaard Aug. 11, 1953 2,796,489 Noregaard .Tune 18, 1957 2,825,773 Avdeenko Mar. 4, 1958 

